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Team India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is facing flak online after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a stunning U-turn to withdraw him from the ODI series against Sri Lanka.
Jasprit Bumrah wasn't originally part of the national squad for the One-Day Internationals against Sri Lanka but was later on added to the side on the suggestions of the selection committee.
“Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the upcoming 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Bumrah, who was set to join the team in Guwahati ahead of the ODI series, will need some more time to build bowling resilience. This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has not named any replacement for Jasprit Bumrah,” the BCCI stated in a press release on Monday.
The news of his pullout on the eve of the Sri Lanka series led to a barrage of criticism coming to his side from the netizens as several of them took to social media to slam him.
While some questioned his attitude and intentions, others labeled him a “traitor” who doesn't understand the value of the national cap.
On the other hand, a few even suggested that he planned to play the complete season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Mumbai Indians as he never gave more importance to playing for the Men in Blue.
There was another section of Team India supporters who hurled expletives at Jasprit Bumrah for failing to get fit ahead of the crucial Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia that will be played in February and March.
Booo Boooo Bumraah the National gaddar
— Gold Voice (@MayurSuvarna2) January 9, 2023
He will be miraculously be fit and ready for Mumbai Indians in IPL.
— Vatsan (@Malabar_Parotta) January 9, 2023
Many genuine cricket fans will lose faith in @Bumrah and #BCCI if Bumrah plays in IPL and remains unfit for national duty pre and post IPL.
For morality, Bumrah should skip this year's IPL irrespective of his injury's condition.
We need him in WC and WTC final (if we make)
— Pankaj (@PankajRamanujan) January 9, 2023
https://twitter.com/ThandaPeg/status/1612422385621426178
Jasprit Bumrah’s last appearance for the Indian cricket team was against Australia during a home T20I series in September last year. Subsequently, a stress fracture in the back denied him the opportunity to participate in the T20 World Cup. In his absence, the Rohit Sharma-led Team India exited the event in the semifinals, losing to eventual champions by 10 wickets.
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Widely regarded as the best all-format bowler in the world, his absence is considered to be a massive setback to the Men in Blue’s fast bowling department.
The 29-year-old would have provided skipper Rohit Sharma a genuine wicket-taking option both up front and in the death overs, considering Jasprit Bumrah’s unique action allows him to exert extra bounce from the pitch with the new ball besides having the ability to bamboozle batters with his toe-breaking yorkers at the end.
However, this isn’t the first time Jasprit Bumrah received flak online.
Last year, weeks before the T20 World Cup in Australia, the Ahmedabad-born speedster was ruled out of the elite competition Down Under, leading to scathing criticism from Team India supporters.
While some made fun of the Mumbai Indians bowler for missing out on the biggest T20 international tournament, others claimed that if it was the Indian Premier League (IPL), he would have managed to get himself fit anyhow.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma came out in defense of the under-fire pacer, claiming that the 29-year-old has been working extremely hard on his fitness at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. But the management can't rush him because it has been witnessed in the past that it could prove detrimental to his career.
In 2022, weeks ahead of the T20 World Cup, the BCCI rushed him to compete in a couple of T20Is ahead of the World Cup in Australia and the result didn't turn out to be good for the national team as his injury relapsed. He was eventually not named in the side that flew Down Under.
“It's an unfortunate incident with him [Bumrah],” Rohit Sharma told reporters ahead of the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati. “The poor guy had been working very hard at the NCA all this time. Just when he got back to full fitness, he started bowling and everything, the last two days I think this incident happened where he felt a little bit of stiffness in his back. It's nothing major, it's just stiffness. [But] when Bumrah says anything we have to be very cautious about it. I thought it was important for us to make that decision then, to just pull him out. When we named him [in the squad], he was in the process of getting his workload done. We need to be very careful with him. He had a major injury before the [T20] World Cup. So we just need to be careful.”
India's updated squad for Sri Lanka ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya (Vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh
